In an interview, Syrian President Bashar Assad said reports and evidence of torture and mass hangings at a military prison are "fake news" and "you can forge anything these days."

After being asked by Yahoo News about an Amnesty International report that estimates as many as 13,000 prisoners were killed in an "extrajudicial execution" campaign over five-year period at a prison near Damascus, Bashar said "we are living in a fake news era."

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Shown photographs of of emaciated and beaten bodies of detainees at his military prisons taken by a former regime photographer, Assad suggested the photos may have been "photoshopped." Later confronted with an FBI report saying the photos were real, he said "if they FBI say something, it's not evidence for anyone, especially for us" and it's "propoganda" without the full picture.

He criticized the United States further, saying the country "is in no position to talk about human rights," calling out the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as its support for Saudi Arabia.

Regarding the new Trump administration, however, Asaad did appear to support the new president's controversial and suspended executive order on immigration. He said there are "definitely" terrorist sympathizers among the country's refugees.

"You don't need a significant number (of sympathizers) to commit atrocities," he said.